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See this snapshot:

enter image description here

Which friends' come under the "More Online Friends" List?

Okay, now many of my friends are offline; why is it that some of them appear in the main list (as offline) while others do not.

I see many friends I never interact with on my Main List and a few I recently chatted with on facebook in my "More Online Friends" List.

What's the algorithm behind this sorting and categorization?

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I believe that the "Main" section are friends you have put into a specific list. The "More Online Friends" are friends who are not placed into lists.

The lag in online/offline inaccuracy is due to the refresh rate set by Facebook.

Facebook is HUGE. They have a refresh/cache for the online/offline of users. Different areas most likely have different cache/refresh times.

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  • Okay, now many of my friends are offline; why is it that some of them appear in the main list (as offline) while others do not. – user19533 May 7 '12 at 4:59
  • As mentioned in the answer, "The lag in online/offline inaccuracy is due to the refresh rate set by Facebook." – Travis Pflanz May 7 '12 at 5:24
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    You are so not getting my point. See the pic in the question; the top 3 persons are offline - right? Why is it they are appearing in my list while other 100s of my offline facebook friends are not? – user19533 May 7 '12 at 5:43
  • No, you are missing the point. Facebook is HUGE. They have a refresh/cache for the online/offline of users. Different areas most likely have different cache/refresh times. – Travis Pflanz May 7 '12 at 5:49
  • Okay, so in a lay-man's words: "those top 3 guys must have been online little time ago?" Is that what you mean? – user19533 May 7 '12 at 5:53
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The friends that show up at the top of your sidebar are people you’ve interacted with frequently or recently on Facebook. You can't add friends to this part, though it updates dynamically as the people you interact with change.

More Friends shows you the rest of your friends who are on chat. To find someone quickly, you can search for them by entering their name into the search field at the bottom of your sidebar.

Source.

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    the last answer is incorrect. i have many people on there who i have never interacted with on facebook ever since it came out. i have my best friends on there automatically somehow, i have never added anybody to a list in my life. there are people who i chat with once and also normally. then i have 2nd cousins on the list that i never even talk to in person or anything. so if it is family that is thrown on there, its very distant family. i want to say its people who look at your profile, but im not sure. – user35906 Mar 8 '13 at 20:32